ATTRIBUTE is a relatively easy word that means to regard something as being caused by someone or something. For example, my students ATTRIBUTE their ability to answer difficult vocabulary in context questions to the Winning Words posts on this Substack platform.
ALERT – ATTRIBUTED TO has appeared as an answer on several recent tests! Don’t expect SAT test writers to illustrate ATTRIBUTED TO with obvious causal examples. Instead, be prepared for summaries of complex research conducted by ecologists and microbiologists.
All three of the recent examples utilized unfamiliar terms. For example, zygomorphic is a term to describe bilaterally symmetric flowers and glucosinolates is a term to describe compounds that produce spicy and bitter flavors.
Don’t let these and other scientific terms confuse you. Simply stated, some flowers remain open longer than others. This can be ATTRIBUTED TO their need to attract more potential pollinators. The surface temperature of wild mushrooms is significantly lower than the surrounding air. This can be ATTRIBUTED TO the effect of water evaporation. And finally, variations in glucosinolates can NOT be ATTRIBUTED TO soil microbes.
In addition to using tedious scientific language, the ATTRIBUTE TO questions also confuse students with a range of difficult wrong answers. For example, FORESTALLED BY means to prevent, ANALOGOUS means similar, and PRESCRIBE means to officially direct by laying down a rule.